SOURCE: Moore, Steven. “Getting Physical.” Washington Post Book World 31, no. 3 (21-27 January 2001): 7.

In the following review, Moore judges The Elementary Particles to be a “fascinating and repugnant” novel.

A little over a hundred years ago, Tolstoy shocked the reading public with his novella The Kreutzer Sonata, a brutally frank denunciation of the mating habits of the upper classes. Michel Houellebecq's Elementary Particles, which at one point features a character reading The Kreutzer Sonata, sent similar shock waves through Europe after its publication two years ago. Though undoubtedly provocative and intriguing, it is unlikely to have the same effect here. In Europe public literary controversies still exist, whereas here a novel will make the news only if there are some political ramifications (as with Rushdie's Satanic Verses) or a tantalizing question of authorship (as with Primary Colors). The Elementary Particles has the added disadvantage of being so extreme in...